HOUSTON - A $100 million city-county inmate-processing center will be built across the street from the main county jail. The 254,000-sf facility is expected to help expedite inmate booking by allowing some to bypass certain time-consuming processes.

The county and City of Houston are splitting the cost to build the facility, which will allow the city to shutter its two aging jails when it opens in about three years. The county will contribute $70 million with a bond issue approved by voters last November, and the city will provide $30 million.